The Premier League Is The Most Exciting Sports League You’re Not Watching

You might have heard that the NFL’s ratings are down, something that could be chalked up to the league not being that much fun anymore. Officials have made defining a catch needlessly complicated and are cracking down on silly celebrations. At the same time, they’re failing to deal with much larger, more serious problems—and it’s starting to have a serious effect on the quality of the product.

We’re far too big of football fans to ever quit the sport completely, but given the quality of games so far, it has made us consider the unthinkable: Watching soccer. With two ties already this season, we’re not that far from soccer anyway. We’ve heard all the complaints about the sport before and they’re not completely inaccurate. However, what if we told you that you’re missing out on some of the best athletes in the world playing during one of the most exciting times to get into the game?

The Premier League is one of the richest sports leagues in the world and with that money, it’s able to boast many of the best players in the game. Clubs have dropped cash on much more than just the world’s greatest players, though. They’ve also pulled in some of the best coaches, which has helped to revolutionize the way the British play the game. New managers for Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United are turning things upside down and have helped to make the league more fun to watch than it has been in years.

For a time, it was understandable to dismiss the Premier League. Because of how money works in soccer, the same three teams always won the league. Watching Manchester United dominate every year wasn’t unlike when the Yankees were in their prime during the late ’90s and early ’00s—it was insufferable.

But last year, something crazy happened when a small fry team, Leicester City, won the league for the first time in its history and turned the sport on its head. What has followed is a complete shake-up of the league. Currently, there’s a thrilling title race where no one can predict what will happen from week to week. Many of the top clubs are struggling, but this has actually worked out in the favor of the fans. We’re seeing more goals and fewer foregone conclusions as quite literally anything can happen when the players take the field.

The top five teams in the league standings are separated by only one game, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see things stay this close for most of the season. If you’re looking to learn more about how the tables work and increase your appreciation the game, you can find plenty of tips, stats, and tactical views online that can provide you with a better read of what’s going on. When you get down to it, like American football, soccer can seem simple on the surface but underneath that there’s a lot of complexity. But that only makes the game immensely rewarding for die-hard fans.

Another great thing is how early the games start. You don’t have to be an early riser, but if you are, you can wake up and immediately have live sports to watch first thing. Better yet, they finish by the time “real” football comes on. It’s a win-win! Besides, who doesn’t want an excuse to start drinking at eight in the morning?

The Premier League is steadily gaining in popularity stateside and we only expect it to continue to grow in the coming years. We may have fought against it for a while, but it’s like they say, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”